2002 Civic Rough Idle

Had an oil leak that turned out to be the cam shaft gasket. I replaced the gasket. I now have a rough idle and engine light on, sometimes flashing. I took it to AutoZone and put it on the computer and it said that it was missing on 1, 2 and 3 and random missing. It's a wonder it even running. So I changed the plugs, and the airfilter (both needed it). l still have the light. I did disconnect the battery to clear the computer but the light does come back. A few questions, if I am allowed, if my timing is off would my car run? 2) How do I set the timing? 3)could I have blown a sensor? The car seems to run ok running down the street but not at an idle. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The car is a 2002 Civic LX. 79,000mi

Hi Noob, welcome to the forum (I'm "new" here too). :)

I'll bet some of the connectors for your coils are loose.

Disconnect and check everything you touched. GL

Hey John,
I check the coils. They are bolted in with one nut, that is tight as well as the wires are clip in sockets (not the technical term) and they seem to be seated tightly. Can the coils get put in in the wrong order? Can they go bad? I am begining to think my computer is messed up.

hey if you wanna clear the computer you gotta pull the "back-up" fuse from the fuse panel (it will also clear your radio and shit too just to let you know) BTW its 7.5 amp. And is it missing when its idling, or just not running right. It should run about 600 rpm with a manual vtec,700 with auto vtec, and with non-vtec around 700 whether its a manual or not.

Hey John,
I check the coils. They are bolted in with one nut, that is tight as well as the wires are clip in sockets (not the technical term) and they seem to be seated tightly. Can the coils get put in in the wrong order? Can they go bad? I am begining to think my computer is messed up.

The coils are universal, but I suppose the trigger wires might be put on wrong but, I wouldn't think the car would run at all..

Sure, coils go bad all the time.

How about the crank angle sensor?

If you can turn a wrench maybe you should buy the Honda manual and try to figure it out yourself.

Otherwise, I think it's time to have the dealer have a look. There might be a Technical Service Bulliten about this issue and they might fix it for free.

Keep us informed.

jeez, I bought my 92 with 76,000 miles on it about a year and a half ago.

Sometimes obdII can be picky... Go back to Autozone and have them hook up the code reader and clear the codes, then see if the codes come back. Also, about the idle-- have you checked for vacuum leaks??

-Andy

if teh wires are connected wrong then it would seem as though they were missing, but really just firing in the wrong order. So you are probably firing at like a few degrees above bdc, or a little too shy of tdc. DOn't you kinda wish you could go back to they days of dstributors when you could shake a few things and viola!